Hello all!

Running a BBS on a Unix system is a pretty cool endeavour, and it's pretty amazing that there's actual choices out there. However, in my travels recently I haven't noticed a good list of 'current' systems that run in Unix(-like) environments, so I was wondering if anyone is keeping tabs on the current goings-on?

I am aware of the following:

synchronet, MBSE, wwiv, mystic, enigma 1/2, citadel/UX, and Lightweight BBS

Is anyone aware of how many more there are that have at least some sort of current development happening on them? I should mention that I am aware that one can use an emulator to run software for DOS and other systems - that's not what I'm referring to here.

The Wanderer wrote to All <=-

Hello all!

Running a BBS on a Unix system is a pretty cool endeavour, and it's
pretty amazing that there's actual choices out there. However, in my travels recently I haven't noticed a good list of 'current' systems
that run in Unix(-like) environments, so I was wondering if anyone is keeping tabs on the current goings-on?

I am aware of the following:

synchronet, MBSE, wwiv, mystic, enigma 1/2, citadel/UX, and Lightweight BBS

Your list looks pretty complete.


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The Wanderer wrote to All <=-

Is anyone aware of how many more there are that have at least some sort
of current development happening on them? I should mention that I am
aware that one can use an emulator to run software for DOS and other systems - that's not what I'm referring to here.

The only *NIX software I know of that is under active development is MBSE and Synchronet.

-- Sean

... I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
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Re: Re: Unix BBS software
By: Sean Dennis to The Wanderer on Tue Jan 27 2026 12:12 pm

The only *NIX software I know of that is under active development is MBSE and Synchronet.

Out of the ones I listed, the only one that is tough to get a real read on is Mystic. I believe all the rest have code updates this year, which seems like a good sign.

Hello The,

27 Jan 26 09:46, you wrote to me:

Out of the ones I listed, the only one that is tough to get a real
read on is Mystic. I believe all the rest have code updates this year, which seems like a good sign.

Mystic can be difficult as its author doesn't seem to communicate updates much from what I can see but I could be very wrong.

Andrew is the lead developer of MBSE and I help out occasionally but my main job is working on updating the documentation (something I am behind on doing).

Rob Swindell and company are very good about updates with Synchronet.

-- Sean

... "Relax! I'm only here for your hamster!" - Death
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* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (86:10/1)

I am aware of the following:

synchronet, MBSE, wwiv, mystic, enigma 1/2, citadel/UX, and Lightweight BBS

There was talisman. The original developer stopped working on it but
someone else picked it up. Not sure how recent the most recent development
on it has been though.

Mike


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Re: Unix BBS software
By: Mike Powell to THE WANDERER on Thu Jan 29 2026 08:35:41

Not sure how recent the most recent development on it has been though.

According to the Talisman site, the current version is 0.54 and it came out 8/1/24.
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Not sure how recent the most recent development on it has been though.

According to the Talisman site, the current version is 0.54 and it came out 8/1/24.

That is too bad. It is a neat BBS package that had some potential. I ran
it on an RPi for a while.

Mike

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Re: Unix BBS software
By: Mike Powell to MORTAR on Fri Jan 30 2026 09:17:43

That is too bad. It is a neat BBS package that had some potential.

If it does what you want it to do, that's all that matters.
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Re: Unix BBS software
By: Mortar to Mike Powell on Fri Jan 30 2026 02:51 pm

That is too bad. It is a neat BBS package that had some potential.

If it does what you want it to do, that's all that matters.

Except for the risk of running abandonware on things that are connected to the internet.

(This in no way implies that actively-developed programs are
guaranteed to be safe, but the likelihood is greater and you have someone you can report issues to).